I’ve seen my fair share of point and click adventures in my lifetime. The appeal of one of such is mostly in the story. Some games choose to go hyper realistic while others tend to go way of the rails. Wailing Heights definitely falls in that last category. Outsider Studios went all out on a creative path to set the scene for Wailing Heights.
Here come The Deadbeats
In Wailing Heights, you play as Frances Finklestein, the manager of the greatest rock band ever produced: The Deadbeats. After the last living member, Ada Z, dies in a plane crash, The Deadbeats popularity spikes again. You get a call to host a gig in Wailing Heights but once you arrive there, you are imprisoned for not being dead. Wailing Heights is a town where the dead spend their afterlife as either a vampire, a werewolf, a ghost or a zombie.
Not long after being imprisoned, you learn about the possession triangle which allows you to “body hop” other characters. All you need is the other character’s name, something they love an something they hate. After possessing a ghost lawyer by the name of Soul Ghoulman, named after the breaking bad character Saul Goodman, you are free to roam Wailing Heights. Jumping from one whacky character to another whacky character you learn to use their special abilities to find out more and eventually finding out the Deadbeats are all in Wailing Heights waiting to be persuaded for a last reunion concert.
Talk to everybody with every body
Acquiring the necessary items and info to constantly possess new characters to progress the story is done by talking to everybody you’ll meet in Wailing Heights. These conversations are filled with great humor which makes playing the game really funny. The game is filled with references to other games, television series, music and movies. Some of these are actually kind of deep cuts. Mentioning a sale in Raccoon City to explain the disappearance of a pack of zombies made me chuckle. The only problem I have with all this talking, is that you have to talk to each character with about every character you learned to possess up until a certain moment. This felt tedious towards the end when I already had about 7 or 8 characters to take control of.
Great soundtrack, original art style
I really enjoyed the soundtrack of this game. Every area has its own feel through the music that’s been composed. The title song “here comes The Deadbeats” kept ringing in my mind way after I’ve finished the game. The game developpers consisted of a few comic book artists, which really shows in the visual style the game offers. Very colorfull and atmospheric scenery can be seen all around. The cut-scenes are even presented in comic book panels. All this added to the quirkiness of this game.
Conclusion
It took me about five to six hours to complete Wailing Heights. It’s short but sweet and packs enough punch to leave a lasting impression on the player. The characters are all well voiced, the scenery is vibrant and original, and the music is well thought of. The sad downside is that this game, which was originally released for PC in 2016, still has some bugs. Nothing game breaking but some things need fixing for this to be enjoyed like it’s supposed to be.
